The Party
Episode of Red Life. Summary Trina and her friends, along with the members of a school club Trina joined have a house party, but Corey complicates things when he invites members of a rival group. Plot The episode starts with an interrogation involving Trina, Mina, Corey and Laney. Trina has lumps all over her face, Mina's glasses are broken and Corey and Laney look heavily beaten. They're being interrogated by Principal Trager. Trina goes into what happened the night before. Trina and her friends are at a school club fair. They discover a club that entices them called the Black Pumas and they join it. The leader, Grand is reluctant to let them join, but is swayed by Trina's threatening demeanor. The leader's friend, Jaceon then brings up a welcoming party they're supposed to have, and Trina offers to let them have it at her house. They agree, and Trina leaves before they could ask more questions. While the girls set up the party, Mina looks up info on the club they joined. She finds that the Black Pumas are devoted to protecting members of their own race. Emory tells her not to worry about it since they stress they're about protection and not violence. The Pumas arrive, assuming it to be a quiet get together, and are immediately thrown into the party. The party goes well at first, but then more people arrive thanks to Corey having played a concert recently, and his group happens to have the members of a rival club, the Wayne Static Liberals. Trina and Grand argue over their inclusion and it spreads to the rest of the party. After getting singled out, Lesley communicates with his friends, planning to destroy Trina's house. Trina, her friends, Corey, his friends and the Pumas attempt to keep the vandals out by nailing the entry ways shut, but are unable to do so because the wood they used came from opposite sides of the house. They seemingly manage to hold off the vandals and they go to hide in the tower, but they find that the stairwell is gone, along with the roof, which enables the vandals to get in. Grand and Jaceon are reluctant to help the others, but Trina and Corey manage to convince him after bringing up shared conflicts they each have to deal with, which helps him to understand the issues of those not in his race. They fight the vandals and manage to scare them away after Emory plays a terrible song on her boombox. Lesley then arrives and is promptly beaten up by everyone. The gang goes their separate ways, Corey and Laney fall down, forgetting that the stairs in the tower were gone, Trina slips and lands on a branch that has a beehive on it and Mina trips, losing her glasses which get stepped on. We return to Trager's office, where he claims that he merely wanted to know what happened to the four due to an anonymous tip given by Estus. Suddenly, Lesley and the vandals appear again to get their revenge, and the gang proceeds to fight back. Jaceon appears in the window and tells the viewers why he's obsessed with keeping the blinds on windows shut, citing the ongoing conflict as an example. He pulls the top of the screen down, ending the topside. Trivia Guest Stars * Teddy Lane Jr. as Grand * Phil LaMarr as Jaceon * Ajgie Kirkland as Rajae * Dave Wittenberg as Lesley General Trivia * Elliot Strange admitted to taking inspiration from the Black Panther party scene from Forrest Gump when including the Black Pumas. This shows with the two leaders of the Black Pumas being based on two prominent background characters from the film's scene. As for Lesley, he based on Wesley, Jenny's abusive boyfriend from Forrest Gump. ** Additionally, the names of the Pumas are based on the actors that played them. Grand's name is sourced from Grand L. Bush while Jaceon is a play on Michael Jace. *The Black Pumas are based on the original iteration of the Black Panthers. *A jab is made towards the Black Lives Matter movement. Cultural References * Trina questions what the band CHVRCHES is known for, and Emory is walking by with a boombox that's blaring Bury It, the show's theme song. * The scene where Kon finds that the stairs in the tower are gone is a semi-parody of a scene from The Golden Child. Quotes * At school ** Grand: You in the wrong place girl. ** Trina: Can you at least tell me about your potentially stupid club? ** Grand: Ok, firstly it's not stupid, like you white behinds would believe. We are the Black Pumas? ** Trina: You mean like those psychopaths who voted for Hillary? ** Jaceon: No you're thinking about the Twitter hashtag ran by hormonal loonies. * At the party **'Trina:' Will you listen to-! **'Grand:' (putting his pointer finger on her lips) Sshhhh, no, you listen to me. I know this is supposed to be a fun time, so what better way to have fun than with... charades! Ok Mina (puts his head on top of a cutout of a polar bear) What, am I? **'Mina:' A polar bear, obviously. **'Grand:' Ugh, no! I'm Michael Jackson if he were a black bear! Wrong wit'chu!? **'Mina:' Quit riding me! **'Grand:' Oh, I'm a girl, and as a girl I have no negative qualities. Y'all ruin the lives of men simply by saying stuff. You as darned as the rest of us girl! **'Laney:' Will you both shut it!?